Friday, April 22, 2011

Hudson Taylor and the message of sports for ending "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

The connection between homophobia in sport and the US military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has been made before, in particular by Dave Pallone (read HERE). We recall as well that after his "Fearless Campus Tour" on out LGBT student athletes, our friend Jeff Sheng turned his sights on DADT, with a moving series of photos of closeted military personnel. Now Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor points out the lessons from sport that can be applied to a post-DADT military:

With the high rates of athletes who enter military service, sports have the potential to prepare straight recruits with positive attitudes toward gay and lesbian teammates. They can be a training ground of inclusiveness for tomorrow's military leaders. Between 80 and 90 percent of the incoming classes at West Point and the Naval and Air Force Academies include high school varsity athletes. Recognizing the transferability of small-squad sports experiences to military units, the website on West Point's Physical Program includes this quote from General Douglas MacArthur: "Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds, that upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory."
Read the full essay HERE.